1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a telephonic communication apparatus in which a data modem or the like is selectably switchable, under computer control, to any one of multiple telephone lines. More particularly, the invention concerns a two-by-two switching matrix that functions as an intermediary between two standard telephone lines, a fax/modem/voice chipset and a standard telephone handset.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many communication control board products adapted for use with computing equipment such as an IBM PC and PC-compatible computers. These boards perform integrated modem/facsimile/ telephone control functions. When connected to an ordinary voice telephone line and to an ordinary telephone handset, such communication boards allow a computer to send and receive facsimile transmissions via a fax modem, to send and receive data transmissions via a data modem, and to send and receive voice telephone communications either via a digitized voice file stored on the computer or via the analog telephone handset. A single line controller is described in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/005,554, filed Jan. 19, 1993, commonly assigned herewith, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Computer users today ordinarily have more than one telephone line available to them. They use these multiple telephone lines to permit the computer to transmit fax/modem/voice messages over one telephone line at the same time as an ordinary voice conversation is conducted on a telephone handset over a second telephone line. But because conventional communication boards, which support only one telephone line, require connection to the telephone handset, this flexibility is lost. This is particularly the case in situations where a user desires the computer to control operations of the ordinary telephone handset, such as by automatic dialing from the computer or automatically maintaining telephone usage statistics.